Should Mission Viejo switch from a General Law to a Charter form of city government?

At the Sept 21st meeting of the Mission Viejo city council a council member asked the city attorney if Charter Cities are immune from government raiding. This was triggered by our general law form of government and their discussion of the pending “taking” of city funds to help the state government keep the bill collectors at bay.

With that question comes a long list of financial and legal questions that I will try to tackle with this post. As there are 21 characteristics for comparison I will limit this post to 8 of them which I feel provide areas for discussion.

Before providing the list let me state that this topic and comparison is generally not covered in the media. Therefore let me state that “the essential differences between the two types of cities is that having a charter gives cities more local authority over municipal affairs. Charter cities are able to customize operations to meet the unique needs of the community, while general law cities are dependent on the state legislature for their power.”

Form of Government.
GENERAL LAW CITY.  State law describes the city’s form of government. For example, Government Code Section 36501 authorizes general law cities be governed by a city council of five members, a city clerk, a city treasurer, a police chief, and any subordinate officers or employees as required by law. City electors may adopt ordinance which provides for a different number of council members. Cal. Gov’t section 34871. The Government Code also authorizes the “city manager” form of government.

CHARTER CITY.  Charter can provide any form of government including the “strong mayor,” and “city manager” forms.

                                                          Elections Generally
GENERAL LAW Municipal elections conducted in accordance with the California Elections Code.

CHARTER CITY. Not bound by the California Elections Code. May establish own election dates, rules and procedures.

Public Funds for Candidates in Municipal Elections
GENERAL LAW CITY. No public officer shall expend and no candidate shall accept public money for the purpose of seeking elected office.

CHARTER CITY. Public financing of election campaigns is lawful

                                                        Vacancies and Termination of Office
GENERAL LAW. An office becomes vacant in several instances including death, resignation, removal for failure to perform official duties, electorate irregularities, absence from meetings without permission, and upon non-residency.

CHARTER CITY. May establish criteria for vacating and terminating city offices so long as it does not violate the state and federal constitutions.

Council Member Compensation (and Expense Reimbursement)
GENERAL LAW. Salary-ceiling is set by city population and salary increases set by state law except for compensation established by city electors.

CHARTER CITY. May establish council members’ salaries.

                                                           Public Contracts
GENERAL LAW.  Competitive bidding required for public works contracts over $5,000. Such contracts must be awarded to the lowest responsible bidder. If city elects subject itself to uniform construction accounting procedures, less formal procedures may be available for contracts less than $100,000.

CHARTER CITY.  Not required to comply with bidding statutes provided the city charter or a city ordinance exempts the city from such statutes, and the subject matter of the bid constitutes a municipal affair.

                                                          Finance and Taxing Power
GENERAL LAW CITY. May impose the same kinds of taxes and assessments as charter cities.

CHARTER CITY. Have the power to tax. Have broader assessment powers than a general law city, as well as taxation power as determined on a case-by-case basis. May proceed under a general assessment law, or enact local assessment laws and then elect to proceed under the local law.

                                                           Zoning
GENERAL LAW CITY. Zoning ordinances must be consistent with general plan

CHARTER CITY. Zoning ordinances are not required to be consistent with general plan unless the city has adopted a consistency requirement by charter or ordinance.

Gilbert comments. Changing your form of government from General Law to a Charter City is like taking your children to a candy store. By law the compensation of city council members in general law cities is capped to population. This became a big issue in Mission Viejo as our council recently awarded themselves a sizable increase in their monthly stipend as covered previously. This alone opens Pandora’s Box for our city where they would love to create full time posts at $100,000 each.

It is worth pointing out that “all of California’s 10 most populous cities are charter cities” including Anaheim and Santa Ana in Orange County. At last count 379 of our 463 cities are general law.
Some related issues include your choice of full time Vs part time council and mayor and the powers and compensation he or she assumes.

 i.e. “Relationship of Full-time Mayor and Structure of Government
While it is true that California cities with a strong mayor form of government have full-time mayors (e.g., Los Angeles, San Francisco, Fresno, Oakland), it is also true that a city can have a full-time mayor without having a strong mayor form of government. The Cities of San Diego, San Jose, and Long Beach have full-time mayors who operate under the council-manager form of government.

Though there are variations within each of these two basic structures of government, the fundamental difference is whether or not the mayor serves as the chief administrative officer of the city. In the council-manager form of government, the mayor and council establish policies and a professional, hired city manager administers the policies. In the strong mayor structure, the council establishes policy and the mayor is the chief administrative officer of the city.”

As indicated by the above details there is much to consider before making this change at any city where the initial election costs will surely exceed $250,000.